Cost of living comparison

New Zealand

compared to

United States

Bloomington vs. Wellington Cost of Living Summary

Bloomington is 4.4% cheaper than Wellington.

Restaurants: pay 5.4% more in Bloomington
Groceries: pay 4.5% less in Bloomington
Transportation: pay 37.1% less in Bloomington
Housing: pay 10.1% more in Bloomington
Childcare: pay 44.8% more in Bloomington
Entertainment and Sports: pay 6.5% less in Bloomington
Clothing: pay 23.4% less in Bloomington

The cost of childcare, housing, and restaurants in Bloomington are more expensive than in Wellington. Expenses including transportation, clothing, entertainment and sports, and groceries are lower in Bloomington.

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Bloomington vs. Wellington Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Bloomington instead of Wellington, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 5.4% more for restaurants

	Wellington	Bloomington
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$13.73 NZ$24.27	$15.00	+9.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.02 NZ$15.95	$10.00	+10.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.42 NZ$4.28	$2.12	-12.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.71 NZ$3.02	$1.54	-10.1%
Average			+5.4%

Wellington vs. Bloomington - Cost of restaurants

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pay 4.5% less for groceries

	Wellington	Bloomington
Bread 1 loaf	$2.16 NZ$3.82	$3.28	+51.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.62 NZ$8.18	$6.40	+38.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.12 NZ$12.59	$2.92	-58.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.89 NZ$12.19	$3.75	-45.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.37 NZ$7.73	$2.70	-38.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.40 NZ$2.47	$2.00	+43.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.99 NZ$1.75	$0.57	-42.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.37 NZ$2.42	$1.50	+9.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.93 NZ$5.18	$2.13	-27.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.95 NZ$1.69	$1.17	+22.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.57 NZ$1.01	$1.46	+157.1%
Average			-4.5%

Wellington vs. Bloomington - Cost of groceries

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pay 37.1% less for transportation

	Wellington	Bloomington
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.03 NZ$12.44	$3.54	-49.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$101.23 NZ$179.01	$30.11	-70.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$25,203.61 NZ$44,568.72	$36,168.00	+43.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$16.19 NZ$28.63	$12.20	-24.6%
Average			-37.1%

Wellington vs. Bloomington - Cost of transportation

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pay 10.1% more for housing

	Wellington	Bloomington
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$53.32 NZ$94.29	$64.06	+20.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,215.08 NZ$2,148.69	$1,482.50	+22.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,141.32 NZ$2,018.26	$1,286.25	+12.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$149.83 NZ$264.95	$114.78	-23.4%
Average			+10.1%

Wellington vs. Bloomington - Cost of housing

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pay 44.8% more for childcare

	Wellington	Bloomington
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,055.30 NZ$1,866.14	$1,462.50	+38.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,899.11 NZ$22,810.11	$19,510.00	+51.3%
Average			+44.8%

Wellington vs. Bloomington - Cost of childcare

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pay 6.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Wellington	Bloomington
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.28 NZ$12.88	$5.17	-28.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.34 NZ$5.91	$4.96	+48.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$25.18 NZ$44.53	$10.40	-58.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$38.09 NZ$67.36	$39.99	+5.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.04 NZ$21.30	$11.99	-0.5%
Average			-6.5%

Wellington vs. Bloomington - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 23.4% less for clothing

	Wellington	Bloomington
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$77.76 NZ$137.50	$45.31	-41.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$28.15 NZ$49.78	$42.50	+51.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$101.77 NZ$179.97	$67.50	-33.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$152.66 NZ$269.95	$90.00	-41.0%
Average			-23.4%

Wellington vs. Bloomington - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

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